Page 26 of Deadly Forever

8

Eight

“Good morning, baby.”

James kept Mandy snug against his chest the next morning, their bare flesh pressed together as he enjoyed the groaning sounds she made as she woke.

“Morning,” Mandy muttered, her head heavy as she stretched. “Did you sleep okay?”

“I slept like a rock.”

Mandy forced up her chin and studied James’ profile for signs he was exaggerating. He looked well rested despite his emotionally unsteady afternoon the previous day. She couldn’t help but be relieved. He didn’t do well when running on limited rest.

“I did, too,” Mandy admitted, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “I had a really funny dream, though.”

“Oh, yeah? What was it about?” James was in no hurry to cut short their morning routine. His favorite part of the day was waking up with his wife because she was warm, cuddly, and a tad slow on the uptake. He found the entire picture charming and wonderful.

“We were getting married because somehow we forgot to do it the first time,” Mandy explained. “I picked out a beautiful dress, but you wanted me to get married naked. I kept explaining that was a bad idea, but you wouldn’t listen to me so I finally got married naked.”

James barked out a laugh, delighted. “I’ll bet you were the prettiest bride ever.”

“I don’t know about that, but I didn’t seem to care that we were eating cake while naked,” Mandy said. “Somehow you ended up naked, too. It must be all of the wedding talk. That’s been our lives for weeks now.”

James was quiet for a beat as he stroked the back of her head and then something occurred to him. “Do you want to get married?”

Mandy knit her eyebrows together, confused. “We’re already married.”

“I know that,” James said. “I just meant … if you want … we could renew our vows when everyone else is getting married. I’ve already paid for the entire shindig and I doubt anyone would have a problem with it.”

Instead of reacting with an earnest smile or romantic kiss, Mandy immediately started shaking her head. “No.”

James stilled. “No?”

“No.”

James wasn’t sure what to make of her reaction. “Are you saying you don’t want to marry me?”

“I’m saying I already married you,” Mandy replied. “We don’t need to do it again.”

“But … I thought it would be romantic,” James said. “Don’t you want to reaffirm your love for me?” For some reason he couldn’t explain, he felt hurt by her refusal to even consider it. He knew it was a ridiculous reaction, especially when she was generally muddled in the morning, but he couldn’t help himself.

“I would hope you feel that I reaffirm my love for you every day we’re together,” Mandy said. “We don’t need a wedding for that.”

“Baby, I’m confused,” James said, choosing his words carefully. “The day we got married was the happiest day of my life. You’re acting as if you don’t care about it, though.”

“No, I’m acting the exact opposite,” Mandy said, refusing to back down. “We’ve already had the perfect wedding, James. I want to focus on the perfect marriage. Now, granted, a marriage can’t be perfect. We’re going to fight and struggle as much as the next couple, but when I look at you all I see is perfection.”

“So let’s get married again,” James said. “We can write new vows. It might be fun. Heck, everyone else is doing it.”

“No,” Mandy said, resting her hand on James’ chest when he moved to shuffle out from beneath her. “Don’t you dare walk away and freeze me out.”

James paused beneath her, licking his lips as he regarded the woman who infiltrated every corner of his being. “Tell me why.”

“Because a wedding doesn’t make a marriage and we already had a wedding,” Mandy explained. “Do you feel differently about me now?”

“Of course not,” James protested. “Don’t turn this around on me.”

“We already had the wedding of my dreams, James,” Mandy said. “I love the memory of that wedding. I don’t want to do it again. I’m afraid it will somehow tarnish that first memory, which may be ridiculous, but that’s how I feel. However, if you want to write up some new vows that we can exchange when it’s just the two of us, I think that might be a fun idea.”